The Butterfly Effect
by Tarashima
Summary: Mirja, a shy and kinda low-confident weasel-girl, happen to fall straight down into the dinosaur world below. But with the help of another weasel we all know, she might find her way home.
1. Chapter 1

The Butterfly Effect

A fan fiction by Tarashima

_Chapter 1__ – Once upon a time there was a caterpillar…_

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It's funny how your life can change in matter of just seconds. My own seconds of change were the result of my clumsiness and anxious mind, and a few moments without awareness of my surroundings. The snowy world I normally live in with my weasel family can occasionally be treacherous, but I've always thought that the ice under the snow laid perfectible stabile on the ground. A pretty vague allusion, as I became aware of that as a consequence when I stumbled over some roots, tumbling down a tiny foothill. Suddenly, I crushed through the ice and found myself falling into cold air darkness. My first horrifying thought was that I'd discovered an underground lake. Since I'm afraid of deep water, I started to panic. But then the air around me became warmer, and before I could react more on the atmosphere, I landed and bounced in something I'd never felt before. The fresh smell of something spring-like tickled my nose, and the feeling against my fingers felt softer yet rougher then the pines of the family tree. Where the heck was I?

I was regretting the decision I've made the same day about go fishing instead of my older sister Rosie. Counting us both out, my family also consisted my little twin brothers Roll and Rock, my aunt Luna, her daughters Mimi and Maggie, and my dad and family leader Ender. All of them have beautiful shades of light brown and beige fur, and they all have wonderful brown eyes. Rosie has also inherited my father's long eyelashes, which on her made an attractive impression, instead of the serious gaze it gave my father. In fact, all in our family is good-looking and handsome, even my little brothers are cute despite their youth.

Except for me.

I'm a perfect copy of my now dead mother, with some inherited disturbing features from my father. My mother wasn't ugly, but she wasn't as good-looking as Luna am or as handsome as my father. In fact, she were a good-looking with a few disturbing features. Sadly for me, I got all of hers, and along with the features from my father, I'm one ugly weasel.

My fur is almost pitching black, even if it's just very dark brown. On my head, the hair has grown so long it reaches me over the shoulder, and even if I collect it in a tail with ropes, it still causes me troubles. Like being pulled in it by the weasel boys Rosie use to see.

My face and stomach on the other hand is some sort of grey, and don't contain the slightest shade of beige or umber. It's almost as fate didn't want me to have real colors. Except for my eyes of course, the worst feature of all I got.

I was born blue eyed, but one of them grew browner during my childhood. Now, as an young adult, I've got a blue and a brown eye, something that has always been the target of mean remarks from other weasels, friend as stranger kind.

From friends of the family, I often receive the comment: "You must've been adopted". Sounds harsh, but you have the reason to think I'm nothing but an exchanged kid if you knew our family better. I'm not as neat as Rosie are, I can't climb or run half as good as my younger twin brothers can and I am definitively not a good hunter as Maggie or Mimi. I don't have the natural authority of my father, and I'm not equally creative as Luna. The only two things I'm good at, is being clumsy and in the way of others.

My self-esteem and confidence is at a bottom of a deep sea, and no matter how hard I try, I do never change. Also my family doesn't believe in me or supports me either.

But something always pushes me to try again and again. And today, I really wanted to do the fishing for a change. Rosie tried to stop me but I persuade her to let me try. I wanted to show off for my dad, even if he only gave me an unsmiling face and told me that he didn't expect anything of me, except of staying out of trouble. But I didn't care about him, as I walked away to the fishing lake, located an hour away from our home tree.

I stood up and tried to look around in the pitching black world I'd fallen into. The only light source I had was from the hole I'd caused by crushing into the ice, and it wasn't enough to give me a full view of my surroundings. Slowly, I realized that I was in some sort of a cave. I looked up to the hole, and saw that it was too high and badly positioned to climb up to. I tried to yell, but my voice drowned in the darkness around me. And I realized that I had to make another way to the surface. The thought scared me, I had never occurred to be on my own, or been into a situation like this. That was yet nothing compared to the irritation I felt about my clumsiness and what it had put me in. Sighing, and trying to ignore the creepiness of the darkness, I started to walk towards no particularly direction. I was sure that I was about to get lost in this dark cave.

But after a while, I saw a small light somewhere in front of me, and it made the cave lighter the closer I came. I began to feel delighted; soon I would be out and on my way back to the lake and finally make a try of fishing. So I started to run as fast as I could, and that weren't fast at all. But since I didn't have anyone else to compare my speed with, I didn't care or think about it.

The light struck me as I reached the gap of the cave. Blended by it, it took a while for my eyes to get used to the brightness. It made me surprised; the sun did never glow this bright. When I finally could see again, I couldn't believe what I saw. This was definitively not my home; there weren't any snow or ice to be found anywhere. Instead, I was facing a never ending world of green plants and trees in all kind of sizes, huge stone pillars that reached the roof of this world and waterfall bigger than anything I've ever seen.

I gasped, we had been living above this entire world, and we didn't even know it? How come that this world could exist, and below the ice? The thought of it were too absurd, so I shook my head, blinked a couple of times and smacked myself in the face to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I wasn't, the world were still there when I took another gaze.

And now, I made another terrifying insight; this world were domesticated by reptile creatures I'd never seen before, but knew what they were; dinosaurs. I swallowed hard as despair started to rise within me. For now I had two big problems to solve:

1. Find a way back home to the surface and the icy world

2. Survive all this reptiles, which would for sure try to eat me.

I looked around and saw that I was standing on some sort of a cliff, so I walked to the edge and glanced down. It wasn't a deadly high cliff, but definitively too high to jump from and without climb-friendly walls. But beside me, a trail with large bushes on each side of it seemed to lead down. I didn't have anything left to go after, so I started walking down it.

Meanwhile, I thought of my family at home, and if they'd start to miss me. Surely not, I couldn't possibly been down here for more than half an hour. And no one would for sure come to look for me through the hole. Well, if anyone was about to come to look for me. I wasn't sure of that, and felt tears pushing from behind my eyelids, but I pressed them away irritably. I didn't have time to cry, not now.

Suddenly, I'd come to a dead end; this was almost like the cliff I'd come from, and from which you couldn't climb or jump. Disheartened I sat down, and looked to no avail after another way, when I abruptly heard a cracking sound from behind. I turned around and saw a dinosaur big enough to swallow me whole. Gasping of horror, I rose quickly on to my feet. The dinosaur gave up a grin in his face and with a furiously shriek, showed me the lines of sharp teeth in his mouth. I cried in panic and tried to run back the same way I'd come from, but the dinosaur blocked the way for me with his big feet and another shriek at me. Without any more opportunities left, I ran in dread to the edge of the cliff and jumped. As I heard the dinosaur give up a third shriek behind me, I was falling helpless through the air.

Failing to grasp the boughs and twigs I was falling through, I landed in a huge bush and bounced out on the ground, covered in dust. A struck of pain went through my body, beginning in my right leg. I looked down and saw that I'd got a bleeding wound on the right knee, making it impossible to move the leg. I started to panic, and it was getting worse when I saw the dinosaur climbing down the cliff using its jagged claws on the feet. Horrified I tried to crawl away but realized the small chances of succeeding with that; how could you possibly crawl away from a dinosaur that you couldn't run from, even with a non-injured leg?

My life started to pass by in front of my eyes and the raising fear inside made me so ill that I wanted to throw up. Once again, I gave up a panicky cry and saw the dinosaur move closer to me. The thought of how many times this scene repeated itself down here made me almost pass out and it struck me that I almost wanted to be eaten so I could get rid of this anxious feeling.

The dinosaur was now so close I almost felt his breath. I turned away and put up an arm till some sort of useless defense. But unexpectedly, the dinosaur snorted in surprise and I turned my face towards it again. Its face were covered in some sort of green spore-gas which made the dino sneeze and snorted out of control. Remainder of a red fruit in the face and on the ground revealed that someone or something had thrown a fruit on the dino.

But I never got the chance to look for the thrower, when without warning two arms lifted me up and swung me onto the back of what looked like another weasel running of.

It became too much for me, and I passed out.

When I woke up, I found myself lying on the shore to a small lake at another cliff then the one I'd jumped from. A waterfall ran down its walls, and I could see small flying reptiles in the air above. I rose to a sitting position and saw that the wound on my knee was considerately taking care of with a leaf and some green ointment that smelled like the butt of a skunk, but it eased the pain and made me able to move my leg.

Then I saw what I guessed was my rescuer. It was indeed another weasel, a male, with a browner color on his fur than the fur of my family. He sat on a stone nearby the water, carving on a piece of wood with a pointy object that I presumed once were a tooth of an enormous dinosaur. The most conspicuous feature though were the green patch he'd put over his right eye, and the bright color of blue in his left one.

Suddenly he stopped his carving and turned his head towards my position, fixing his eye on me. And with one single smooth move, he threw the sharp thing in the ground, left the wooden figure on the stone and ran on all four rights onto me. He sniffed on me with his large nose and with a suspicious look in his face. Scared I hold my breath. This weasel may have come to my rescue, but what were the odds of him being just a psychopath that would love to harm me instead of a dinosaur?

He took my right arm and examined it very carefully.

"Not much on that bone"

It was the first time I heard his voice. And since it felt as he was nothing but curious of me, I relaxed a bit.

He slide around me one lap, and then started to inspect my hair with his fingers, but that's where I drew the line.

"Whoa, hold it!" I said, and put both my hands on my head, protecting my hair.

He came up in front of me, holding up both his hands.

"Okay, sorry mate" he said, but the undertone of irritation revealed that he didn't really mean it.

Yet I wanted him to know how rude he'd been. I'm very huffy about my hair, and don't want anyone but me to touch it.

"You can't just start fingering around someone's hair like that!" I said in an upset tone. "It's not polite!"

He gave me a skeptical look.

"And I guess saving ya isn't polite either?"

Angry, I tried to come up with something to say, but failed. And what made me even angrier, he was right. He didn't have to save me, but he did and I couldn't even thank him for that. All I was thinking about was my hair, which he didn't know a thing about. In the end, I'd been the one impolite.

"Sorry" I said, and tried to swallow my pride.

He smiled and I now saw that he also had a protruding jaw with two noticeable teeth sticking up before his upper lip.

"Nah, its okay" he said. Then he turned and started to walk away.

It surprised me, didn't he even wanted a thank you?

"Wait, where you going?" I said to his back.

"To whatever I was doing before ya needed my help. I can't remember what that was, but I'll sure figure it out" he said in a cheery way.

"Don't you want me to say thank you or something?"

He turned around towards me, looking very surprised.

"Haven't ya done that already?"

"No?" I said suspiciously.

"Hm, oh well then, if ya must so please let me hear it"

I stared at him and started to feel a bit skeptical for my rescuer. This weasel must have been a few sandwiches short for a picnic!

"Eh, thanks for saving me?" I said.

"See? Now we're all happy and satisfied! Now, eh, go home!"

He turned around and once again he started to walk away, but I'd become rather annoyed.

"You're polite enough to save me but not to tell me your name?" I said in a raised voice.

He sighed, apparently frustrated.

"What in asparagus' name is your problem?" he asked in a displeased tone, not looking at me.

When the question had left his mouth, I exploded. The frightening feelings over this unknown place and the shame over this whole situation was overwhelming me. I didn't think or care about what I was saying; I just had to let all the confused thoughts leave my head.

"My problem is that I'm lost in an unknown world with a wounded knee and no idea where I'm supposed to go to find my way home, and I don't have any sort of courage or self-confident to speak of and I definitively don't got any talents, and my family's probably not missing me and I could use a little help 'cause I'm so stupid and clumsy and…"

I had almost begun to cry when he cut me off.

"Alright ma'am, don't get so upset, I get the point" he said, but now more with a kind voice. All of a sudden, he stood right next to me.

"Well, the name's Buckminster, but ya can call me just Buck. And if ya tell me your name, I can help you home"

I looked up in his face; he smiled a genuine kind smile. I washed away the tears with the back of my hand.

"Mirja" I said.

"Nice to meet ya Mirja" Buck said and then helped me up. "Now, just follow me, do exactly what I tell ya to do and then you'll see that everything will work out just fine. Now, chop-chop!"

He started to walk off for the third time. This time I followed him into the jungle, still feeling rather skeptical. Yet I could feel that this weasel was making me feeling a lot safer now and that was truly comforting.

End of chapter 1

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**Hi Everyone!**

**I've finally completed this story, which originally was planned as a fanfic for my little sister and her OC, but later was edited to an OC of mine. I'll hope you have enjoyed chapther one!**

**Though it is complete, I have to check out the grammar in the rest of the chapters, but I'm not planning to wait too long with the updates. **

**PS: Sorry for my english, I'm originally from Sweden ^^;;;;**


	2. Chapter 2

The Butterfly Effect

A fan fiction by Tarashima

_Chapter Two – __A monstrous reprobate to the world…_

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"Hey, that's mine!"

"You'll have to catch me first!"

Rock and Roll were chasing each other, and as usual, Roll had been taking one of Rock's personal precious items. He didn't own many things, none of us did, but these few things were his dearest treasuries; a shell from a black snail, a little stone with the shape of a mammoth and a feather from the eagle that took our mother. Today, Roll had been taking the black shell and was juggle with it, and of course it made Rock go nuts.

Now, Rock was chasing after Roll through the little forest we lived in, sliding between the trees in their usual hate-and-love style. Roll chuckled and Rock was yelling foul names after him.

"You skunk, you mock-eating idiot, you ugly excuse for a weasel, give me my shell back!"

"You can't get me! You can't get me!" Roll started to sing in a teasing way.

Rock growled and threw himself at Roll, catching him from behind. They tumbled down a little foothill and when they stopped on the ice, Roll was lying over Rock, holding his hands pressed down in a firm grasp.

"Are we giving up?"

"In your dreams, long fingered raccoon!"

Roll chuckled again, while Rock tried to get off. Suddenly, Roll saw something in the corner of his eye and looked up. Rock took his brother's lack of attention as a chance to throw him off, and took back his shell which Roll had been holding in his hand.

"Thank you!" he said in a sarcastic tone but Roll hushed him.

"What's that hole over there?"

Then Rock also saw it; a small, dark hole in the ice. They looked at each other and swallowed at the same time. Then, without any more thoughts or sayings, they both carefully crawled to the hole and watched through it. The pitch black didn't tell them what kind of a hole it was. Roll formed a small ball of snow in his hands, and let it fell. After more than a few seconds, they heard how it hit the soft ground, so whatever this hole contained it had a bottom far down there.

"Scary!" Roll said.

"Yeah, l-lets get out of here" Rock said in a petrified way.

They rose at the same time and started to walk away, when something stopped Roll.

"Come on, let's go!" Rock said but Roll shook his head.

"Don't you smell that?"

They sniffed. Indeed, there was a familiar scent over the hole. The scent of their older sister Mirja, in other words me. They had discovered the hole I'd fallen through. The twins started to panic.

"She most has fallen down through it!" Roll said

"No shit Sherlock!" was the impatiently answer Rock gave him.

"What shall we do?"

"We try to yell after her" Rock suggested and so they did.

"Mirja! Mirja, are you there?" They yelled at the same time through the hole, but I hadn't been in the cave for about an hour so I didn't answer of course.

"We must get help!" Roll said panicky. Rock nodded and they started to run back to the family tree with worried faces.

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Meanwhile, me and Buck, my weasel rescuer and crazy guide in this creepy underworld of dinosaurs, were walking down a large trail, that didn't seem to lead anywhere but deeper in to the jungle. Buck walked in front of me and I followed as near as I could, without feeling pushy. We hadn't spoken since we left the small lake and the silence had now lasted an hour or two, I wasn't sure of the time down here.

I had lots of questions about him and this place, going through my head without control, yet I didn't dare to utter any of them. Buck's rough attitude and odd speaking made me shy and unsure of what I could say without bother him, if I would be of any bother of course. I don't have any high social skills to speak of, since I don't have any friends.

Buck didn't say anything to me either. He was just as silent as his footsteps against the dusty trail.

But suddenly he stopped, leaned over a small bush with his left ear at the plant and spoken for the first time under this long lasted silence.

"What was that? Where I'm going? Well, it's none of your bloody business, so keep your mouth shut and stop with the questioning, 'aright lad?" he said impatiently to the plant, smacked it with his left hand and walked on.

His action made me extremely surprised and temporary stunned. Just to be sure, I secretly checked out the plant he'd been spoken to but there was no one there of course. I resumed the following after Buck, and was about to ask him what he was up to and if he had lost his mind, when a loud roar was heard from a distant position in the valley. The sound of it sent shivers down my spine, there had been nothing but absolute evil and blood thirst in it.

Buck stopped and listened to it with his ears turned backwards.

"Rudy's hunting" he said dramatically.

I swallowed hard; the silly name couldn't stop my growing fear.

"Who's Rudy?" I asked frightened.

Buck turned around and came up to me so fast I gave up a squeak in scared surprise.

"Rudy's the second worst thing ya can run into down here. He's totally relentless and doesn't care for anything but killing and eating"

"Have you met him?" I asked.

"Aye, of course, he's the reason I have this" he said and pointed at the green eye patch. The thought of what pain and horror it must've been to lose an eye made me sick of fright. The pain in my knee faded a bit, that was nothing comparing to the ache Buck must've felt.

"Are you not in pain?"

"Well, it was some time ago, so that's a no"

I nodded, and then realized that Rudy was only the second worst thing in this world.

"What is the absolute worst thing down here?" I asked and was afraid of the answer.

"Why, me of course"

His answer made me stunned; it wasn't at all what I'd expected.

"And why is that?" I asked skeptically.

He only gave me an enigmatic smile and didn't answer. Instead, he continued the walking while Rudy gave up another horrifying growl.

"Wouldn't surprise me a bit if we should meet him" he said in a too joyfully way.

I was hoping with all my heart that we wouldn't.

After a while, we came to what looked like a never ending canyon. Deep down a river floated and far away I could see the other side of the giant rift. I tried to found a way over but couldn't see any sort of bridge or possible crossing anywhere, so I turned to Buck.

"Are we really supposed to get over here?"

"Aye!"

"How?"

He pointed down the steep and I looked in the direction of his finger, as I saw a few lianas growing out of the walls. Most of them hung down towards the water way below, but others had found their way to the other side. A few of them formed a natural suspension bridge, with a bigger vine to step on and two thinner on each side where you could hold your hands.

I started to protest but Buck didn't care about me, instead he grabbed hold onto my left arm and so we dived off the cliff. Scared I let out a shriek, but Buck just laughed as he caught one of the vines with his free arm. He pulled me up to the bigger vine and frightened I took a firm hold in the two thinner ones on each side of me. The whole construction felt rather unstable and the chasm formed a natural wind tunnel, which made it pretty tricky to get over.

Buck had climbed up to the vine and was now standing behind me.

"Okay, now ya just have to move slow and with careful steps, or else this whole thing will turn upside down" Buck yelled through the air stream.

"I really don't want to do this! I'm afraid of heights!" I yelled back as a last try to persuade him to turn around and found another way.

"Then ya don't have to look down, eh?" He yelled as an answer and I knew that there were no other options left.

Real slow and extremely careful, I began to slide along the vine, trying not to look down or let the wind catch me. My muscles were stiffed, and I didn't dare to make any faster moves.

"You're doing well!" Buck yelled behind me when we'd reached more than halfway.

I was about to reply back that I didn't share his opinion, when something flew right above our heads. The temporary increased wind surprised us both, and the suspension bridge we stood on turned upside down, making us dangling in the air with nothing to stand on. I was too panicked to scream, and turned my face to Buck.

"Well, this wasn't meant to happen" he said in surprise.

"I bloody hope it wasn't!" I said angrily, feeling a mix of annoyance and dread. "Well, now what?"

Buck opened his mouth to answer but was abruptly interrupted by a shriek that moved toward us. At the same time, we turned our heads and saw a giant pterodactyl flying in our direction. Its mouth was formed into a sneer that didn't seem to be meant as a friendly smile.

I was about to scream in panic but before my nerves could send me the signals to my brain, Buck had already reacted. With one single cut he used his knife to cut of the vine we were hanging in and we swung ourselves to the other wall. The collision against it made me lose my grip around the vine, but lucky for me, Buck caught me with a free hand and the knife in the mouth.

The flying reptile didn't seem to give up on us. He turned around and began another attack. The fear inside me had grown too big for screams, and I grasped around Buck's grip with both my hands and looked away.

But my crazy guide succeeded to avoid the reptile once again; by let go of the grip around the vine, dropping us both to the end of it. Then, he started to climb as fast as he could with only one hand and with me dangling beneath. Faster than I thought were possible during the circumstances, we reached the edge of the cliff and Buck threw me up to safe ground. Suddenly, an air stream passed through the rift, making him lose his grip around the vine. As a surprising instinct I wasn't aware of, I'd reached out my arm and caught him. Meanwhile, the pterodactyl had turned around and was ready to attack again. Filled with terror, I started to drag the other weasel up.

He was heavy. Maybe not heavier than a weasel his size should be, but definitively a bit too heavy for someone without any useful muscles, like myself. But I didn't lose my grasp and as soon as he'd come over the edge; he hastily pulled himself up only an inch away of being attacked. Buck rose into defending position against the attacking pterodactyl and I placed myself behind him.

"On the count of three, we jump aside" he said in a low voice.

I stared at him.

"What?"

"One"

The pterodactyl was now flying swift toward us in an elegant yet aggressive dive.

"You can't be serious!"

"Two"

The flying predator grinned at us. Buck took a firm hold around me with his free hand.

"No, no…!"

"THREE!"

And we jumped aside, me screaming, just as the reptile was about take us both. Instead, the surprise of our dodge made it crush into the ground and pass out.

"Pff, reptiles" Buck said in an arrogant voice when he got up from the ground and was about to continue the march.

I stood up and stared at the pterodactyl, so full of fright that I started to cry. Silent, yet sadly tears ran down my cheeks. And I felt so stupid and tiresome, not just about the recent scene, but over all of it. How I'd fell down here, how Buck had saved me, how impolite and rude I was against him and how he was forced to save my life all the time.

Maybe it would've been better for everyone if I'd just been eaten by the sharp tooth at the cliff. Then out of the blue I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Ya 'aright, mate?" Buck said in a soft voice.

"No, but I'm not hurt, I promise" I said and washed away the tears.

"How's your leg?"

I'd almost forgotten about my leg. But I didn't feel any pain from it so I guessed it was okay.

"It is fine" I said and looked him in to the eye, just to make sure for him that I wasn't lying.

He met my eyes, and then nodded.

"'aright, mate, wanna keep going?"

I nodded.

We started to walk again, and once again in silence. But this time, the stillness felt so thick we could almost touch it. And I was sure that it was my entire fault.

End of chapter 2

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**Well, here we are at chapter two, AMAZING! Don't you just hate the low self-esteemed thoughts of Mirja? Getting kinda angry here...**

**Please review if you haven't yet ^^**


	3. Chapter 3

The Butterfly Effect

A fan fiction by Tarashima

_Chapter __3 – Nothing but a mistake of nature…_

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"Dad! Dad!"

"Mirja has fallen through a hole in the ice!"

Roll and Rock had now reached back to the family tree, from which Ender, the family leader and our father, looked out with a stern face.

"What are you saying?"

Roll and Rock tried to catch their breath while they told him what've happened, filling in the lines for each other like twins do.

"We were fooling around…"

"…Just for fun, when we saw a hole…"

"…In the ice, and it had the scent of Mirja around it…"

"…so she must've fallen through the ice…"

"…maybe into an underneath cave or something…"

Ender looked infuriated but with a slight of worry passing in his eyes.

"Show me the hole" he ordered the twins and they obeyed.

At the crack in the ice, Ender examined it carefully and sniffed. Without doubt, he recognized my scent and realized that the twins were right. Displeased, and with an angry undertone in his voice, he ordered the twins to get Luna and Rosie.

"And tell them to hurry!" he yelled after my brothers as they ran back to the family tree.

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We hadn't walked long when Buck abruptly stopped. Deep into my own depressing thoughts, I didn't noticed and bumped straight into his back. I was about to apologize when he turned around.

"It's getting dark, let's camp here" he said.

I looked around; we'd reached a small spring within a glade of trees and bushes that grew so packed they almost created walls around the water. From a small mount a little waterfall ran with a soft purling. In the darkening light, this place was one of the most beautiful places I'd ever seen.

The camp wasn't that different from the place that we'd presented ourselves earlier. The memory of it made me feel silly and exasperating once again.

"I'm gonna try find some food", Buck said with his knife on the shoulder, "so ya stay here and don't go anywhere. Ya can take a bath in the spring if ya want to"

I looked after him when he walked back into the jungle. Then, I was alone with my sorrow and sadly thoughts, and I wondered what he really thought about me. For sure he thought of me as nothing than one annoying thing.

My knee had started to hurt again, so I decided to take a look at it. I sat down by the water and removed the leaf around it. The sight of my wound made me slightly ill, it had swollen again and was purulent, and the green ointment that'd smelled so bad had almost disappeared.

Well, I couldn't have a sore like this, but wasn't sure if I could wash it in the spring, if my wound would become even more infected. Then I remembered that Buck had told me to take a bath if I wanted, and I also remembered that he'd said that if I would listen to him everything would work out fine. Something I'd forgot when the pterodactyl were attacking us standing on the cliff. I felt pretty ashamed.

Full of sadness over my stupidity and short memory loss, but at least trying to focus on my wound, I put my leg in the water. It wasn't cold but the heat from the injury made it colder, and with a grimace of pain, I started to clean my leg. The water felt very pleasantly and smooth, and soon enough my sore was totally cleaned, and the swelling had shrunk to almost half the size. I carefully moved the leg in the water, and it felt strangely different, yet so soft and pleasant. Without even noticing it or even think about it, I let my whole body down in the lake.

Never in my whole life I had imagined that I would enjoy the feeling of water, or that I would ever think of it as anything else but a threat! The otters that lived by the lake we used to fish in had always made fun of me and my fear, laughing at me as I used to sat at the shoreline with a frightened look. If I ever took a bath, it was in the subsoil water near the shore, where nothing could harm me.

Now, I didn't fear the smooth and quiet liquid I now floated in. Instead, I started to swim around with careful strokes. And it felt lovely! For sure I didn't have the otters elegant swim style, but hey, I was in fact swimming! Happiness started to fill me, and just as a test, I dived.

With opened eyes beneath the water surface I realized that even if it was a small lake, I couldn't reach the bottom anywhere but along the shoreline. That didn't scare me at all, and in surprise that my ordinary panic didn't show up, I started to laugh. And as the fresh water entered my mouth, I realized that laughing underneath the water wasn't a good idea, so I swam up and broke the surface with an elegant jump, yet I didn't dive again. Instead, I swam around, playing like an otter baby learning to swim for the first time.

Weasels aren't that good at swimming, but at least we can. And now, I'd learned not only how to do it, but to overcome my phobia. But how could that have happened? I hadn't thought a bit on my fear, and no one was here to tease me so I didn't have the reason to focus on it. Could it really be that simple?

"Wait till my family sees this!" I said to myself, feeling very proud.

"Enjoying ourselves, are we?"

Buck's voice totally surprised me; I'd not heard him come back. But why would I, he walked so silent you could hear an ant's footsteps instead of his.

I turned around towards him with a shameful look, like I'd done something wrong. But he just smiled at me so I let go of the disgraceful feelings that only made me feel naked, and nodded.

Now, it had become real dark, but here and there, the moonlight above shone through the ice, creating enough light to still being able to see anything.

Buck turned around and when he did, a shiver of moonlight were reflected in his lone eye, and sent a crystal clear blue look at my direction. It made me wince unexpectedly. And I realized as I left the water, that I'd never met a weasel with that eye-color. The weasels I knew at home had brown, gold or emerald shimmering colors on their eyes, except for me of course.

My brown and blue eye made people either scared of me or think that it gave them the right to mock me. So you can guess if I appreciated that Buck hadn't say anything about my eyes whole day. Maybe he didn't care, or saw it as nobody's business.

That night, Buck told me the story of how he'd lost his eye at the very first meeting with Rudy, the gigantic white dinosaur with the evil red eyes from which he'd escaped just inches from being eaten and got a tooth from the reptile on the way out of its mouth. With all his enthusiasm and pride over the happening, I realized that Bucks obsession over Rudy wasn't at all in order of taking revenge on the reptile for his lost eye. It was more like Buck had pointed out Rudy as his archenemy, like he among all these perilous dinosaurs needed someone that was more a bit of a challenge. I couldn't help but think he was slightly cool.

"Wow!" was the only thing I'd to say when he'd finish his story.

"It's like the old saying; an eye for a tooth, a nose for a chin, a butt for a… Well, it's quite an old and not that very good saying" he said

"You mean 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'? " I adjusted him, as I knew the saying he was referring to.

"Whatever" he said smiling and shrugged.

I tried to let the story sink in to me, but it was quite a story he'd told me. And it felt more of the kind of tales you hear as a child, about legendary heroes that no longer exist more than in memories of others.

"You don't exist, right?" I said without thinking.

He chuckled.

"Well, I sure died, but I lived, so I guess I do exist"

And I felt so ashamed. That was so typical me, just let out a mix of all the crazy stuff I was thinking without correcting it before opening my mouth, and in the end it all became nothing but rubbish talk. I looked away and didn't say anything more.

"So what about ya?" Buck asked me.

I turned my face towards him.

"What about me?"

"Well, I noticed ya have a brown and a blue eye, were ya born with it?"

So he had noticed it and been thinking of it!

"No, I was born blue-eyed but one of my eyes grew browner during my childhood"

"Oh, I see"

I couldn't help but slip the words out of my mouth.

"I hate it"

He looked surprised at me.

"Why?"

I didn't dare to look at him, and I wasn't even sure why I was telling him this. We were still just acquaints.

"I…think it's ugly"

"And do anyone but ya think that?" he asked in a kind voice.

"Yes, I've always been told that it isn't normal, or even pretty"

He sighed.

"Well, down here we're the only mammals, so ya don't have to worry"

I looked at him.

"Don't you found it ugly?"

I almost regret asking, but he looked straight into my eyes with a completely serious face.

"No. It's different yes, but not ugly"

"Then you're the first" I said, but then put my hand over the mouth just after I'd uttered the words. That was definitively not necessary for me to tell him!

His expression faded from the serious look into a softer face filled with compassion. I desperately tried to take back what I'd just said.

"Well, maybe not the first, I just can't remember if anyone else haven't called it ugly, I mean, I know a lot of others and I can't remember what everyone say to me and…"

Buck cut off my nonsense gabble.

"Ya think way too much, mate"

Chocked by his declaration, I couldn't say another word. Not only 'cause he'd hit straight on the truth, but also I'd never heard it from anyone before. It had only been a thought in my own head, neither as a fact or a falsehood. No other weasel that I knew about had seen it. But this weasel had.

Who was he?

Buck stretched himself.

"Alright, time to take a shut eye!" he said and climbed up in the nearest tree.

I wasn't sure of what I was supposed to do. At home, I always slept together with Rosie and Luna in a comfy pile of furry weasels, but that was definitively something I didn't wanna do with Buck. The thought of it made me blush but as I'm a weasel, no one could see it.

Buck had climbed about 5 yards up in the tree and was now sitting on a branch with his back against the trunk. His arms were crossed over his chest and he had a firm grip around the knife. He looked down at me with a teasing smile.

"Stay down there, and you'll become the midnight snack to a hungry dino" he said.

The thought of being eaten in my sleep made me shiver but I didn't show it. Instead, I climbed up in the tree, passed Buck and laid myself on a branch 3 yards higher. It wasn't in the least comfort, but it was definitively better than being devour on the ground.

"Don't worry, I'll keep watch" Buck said in a calming way.

"Is that really necessary?" I asked.

He didn't answer the question.

"Good night, Mirja" he said instead.

I tried to found a comfort position on the branch, lying on my stomach with my hands as a pillow.

"Good night Buck" I said back, feeling a bit anxious.

A distant roar was heard through the valley, the same one we'd heard earlier today.

"Good night, Rudy" Buck said for himself.

Weirdo, I thought incredulous. And just when I was about to wonder how I would supposed to nap during this circumstances, I'd closed my eyes and fell asleep.

End of chapter 3

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	4. Chapter 4

The Butterfly Effect

A fan fiction by Tarashima

_Chapter 4 – __All of a sudden it will turn from the gormandizing lifestyle…_

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Luna and Rosie ran in hurry to the hole. The boys had only giving them the short story, but it had been more then enough for them to realize that this was serious.

"How typical of Mirja to get in trouble every time she's about to do anything" Rosie said irritated.

"Now now, Rose, you know that it isn't her fault" Luna replied.

"And whose is it then?" Rosie asked

Luna didn't answer that question. Instead, she felt rather sorry about her clumsy niece and wondered if I was okay.

When they got to the hole, Ender gave them a single nod.

"Has she really fallen through this hole?" Rosie asked skeptically.

"Indeed she has" Ender answered fractious, "Don't you smell her scent?"

"Well, what shall we do?" Luna asked worried.

"The only thing we can do, wait till the morning and then examine the hole. If she didn't answer the boys when they called for her, then she's not down there, or not alive"

Luna didn't like the way Ender talked so cold about his daughter but she knew her brother better than that. She knew that he was worried sick, and didn't want to wait till the morning. But he was more of a logical kind than an emotional, and though it looked cold-hearted, there were no other options left.

"Poor Mirja, I hope she's okay" Luna said with teary eyes.

"And if she's not, I'm gonna kill her for making us all worried sick for her!" Rosie said angrily but the shiver of fear in her voice revealed her worries for her younger sister.

Ender didn't say anything. Not even to his nieces Maggie and Mimi when they at the return asked if they'd found me.

With a face that was stiffed in a mix of anger and concerns, he spent the whole night watching the star-filled sky, alone with thoughts that only he could tell.

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I woke up the next morning by almost falling of the branch. Panicky I grabbed hold onto it with both hands, and when I was sure not to fall, I sighed in relief. Then, I stretched myself and yawned. The branch had indeed been very uncomfortable, my back wasn't that pleased about the nights sleep.

I looked around, it was way lighter now. Early dawn if I'd to guess, it wasn't easy to decide the time of day down here when you couldn't see the sun.

Carefully I climbed down the tree and stopped just above the branch were Buck was sleeping. Now I took the chance to study this weasel more properly, I'd most of the time yesterday had my eyes on his back.

He slept with his mouth lightly open and in the same position I'd last seen him yesterday. Maybe it was just the morning light that was teasing with me, but I thought he was rather cute. And he looked slightly different now when I'd come to know him a little bit more, but I wasn't sure of what exactly in his features that had changed.

I climbed down, silently so I wouldn't awoke him. On the ground, I once again stretched; it felt nice to be in motion again. On my toes, I walked down to the lake and was just about to wash my face and take a sip or two when something black fell down on both sides of my head. A single thread of fear passed through me, but then I realized it was just my own hair, loose from the damaged rope during my uncommon sleep. It fell over my shoulders, soft and silky, in such a strange unusual way, so I looked down on the mirror-blank lake and studied my face. And it struck me that I looked much prettier than before. My face was naturally framed within my hair and its darkness gave me a little mysterious look. Carefully I ran my fingers through it. This couldn't be me.

And a thought took form in my head. Maybe it was because of the lack of compliments in my life or any kind of other confirmations, that made me let the thought grab hold in the back of my mind as it started to root there:

Did Buck think I was pretty?

Hell no, what was I thinking? Just because he didn't found my eyes ugly, I couldn't presume that he would think the same way about my hair.

"Good morning" I heard beside of me, making me squeak in scared surprise. I turned my face and looked straight into a blue eye and a laughing mouth.

"Better start working on the nerves, aye?" Buck said with a awry smile, then formed his hands into a bowl and began to drink from the lake. I turned away shyly, and washed my face with harsh, almost as if I wanted to wash away the nervousness.

When we were done, Buck looked at me carefully. Then, his smile grew a bit bigger.

"Ya look much better that way" he said and then walked off to the tree to fetch his knife. But I was so focused on myself that I didn't notice it. Maybe he didn't know it or just could guess it, but I'd never in my entire life received a compliment for my appearance. Not a single one, not even from my family. And now, I had obtained two in just a day, from another weasel, and a male! Okay, he was a weasel with apparently no capacity of normal thinking, but for the moment I didn't care about that.

The silly happiness which now filled me made me smile out of control and I had to turn away my head so I wouldn't reveal it to Buck.

Soon we began our walk again, and after a while, the environment changed into fields of grass and small bushes. Here, tiny dinosaurs were jumping around. They seemed to be predators but they didn't care for us at all. And I'm not sure if I would have noticed it anyway.

The compliment I had received from Buck was still running through my mind, like a happy orphan that just been adopted by the parents of his dreams, and I could hardly stop the silly smile in my face. Lucky for me, Buck did never turned around.

The hours went by, and the landscape shifted into a jungle-like again. Yet now the trees were much bigger, creating a natural roof that didn't let the light slip through the leaves. Gigantic flowers grew here and there amongst the trees and the ground was covered in dead leaves and lianas.

"Welcome to the Jungle of Lost Souls" Buck said in a dramatic voice.

"Why do they call it that? Do you really lose your soul in here?" I asked slightly frightened.

"No, it's just sound cool to say" Buck answered in a cheery way.

His answer made me moan in annoyance. I'd almost forget that he wasn't at his full sanity.

Once again I was about to ask when he'd lost his mind when I suddenly flew up in the air with something strapped onto my left leg. I screamed, but more in surprise then in fear. 'Cause it wasn't a giant perilous dinosaur that'd caught me this time, it was a liana strapped into a giant butterfly flying, and it hadn't notice me.

"Mirja!" Buck yelled after me as I helpless dangled after the insect as we flew through the trees.

"Help me!" I yelled but wasn't sure how that was supposed to happen. The butterfly itself wasn't a threat, but it did flew in a highly speed and the liana was real tightly strapped onto my leg. I had to be totally focused on which way the insect flew, or else I would have crushed into the trees or the giant flowers we were passing.

But after a while, the butterfly landed on a huge red flower, and I took it as chance of get myself free. With harsh effort with both hands and teeth, I was finally free of the liana and landed on the ground with my back first. Fortunately, the ground was so high-covered in leaves it softened my fall.

I ran away from the butterfly just to make sure I wouldn't get stuck again. When I was out of range of it, I slowed down and stopped. It was about then I realized I didn't had a single clue of where I was. All the trees and flowers around looked the same, and I couldn't see any sign of the trail anywhere. The flight had also messed up my picture of the time and I couldn't say from which direction I'd come from.

"Buck!" I yelled and listened, but no matter how hard I pricked up my ears, I couldn't hear a responding.

"Buck!" I yelled a lot louder, yet still without an answer.

"BUCK!" I yelled with all my strength and pricked my ears till their limits. Still there was no answer.

Now, I started to panic. I had survived pretty well in this world of dinosaurs, but it wasn't thanks to me. What would I do without Buck?

I tried to look through the trees, but couldn't see more then 30 yards in all directions. And if Buck would have been within my sight, he would have answered. Or would he?

What if he'd regret his decision of bringing me back home, just because he didn't found me as nothing but a weenie? That he didn't found it worth all the effort?

Tears started to search their from behind my eyelids, but I angrily blinked them away. Buck wasn't that kind of person, he'd showed me that he was kind-hearted and only enjoyed the trip of risking his life on a daily routine, especially when it came to matter of others.

No, he was only too far away to hear me. And he would for sure not find me for a while, so why not wait and then try to yell after him again?

So I sat down by a large tree beside me and waited.

End of chapter 4

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**Oh, my, she's all alone! How's this ever gonna have a happy ending?**

**Plz review!**


	5. Chapter 5

The Butterfly Effect

A fan fiction by Tarashima

_Chapter __5 - Into a process known as an evolutionary miracle…_

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It had gone an hour or two referring to the movement of the sun above the rooftops; the one of leaves and the one of ice, when I once again tried to yell after Buck, but still without getting any respond.

"Where can he be?" I asked myself slightly worried.

Doubt started to grew inside me again, but I pushed it away before it could take form into actual thoughts. I was more concerned of the other weasel, and wondered if he was okay.

Why am I…? Of course he was okay! Concerned about me maybe, but I couldn't see any possibilities that he could've gone into trouble in here. We hadn't seen any dinosaurs since we entered this gigantic jungle so obviously they avoided it for some reason. Maybe because of the lack of food, the enormous trees, or all the giant insects and butterflies that was flying around here.

Then I got an idea. I might not know from which direction I'd came from, but that was something I could find out by just climbing to the top of the nearest tree, and take a look around above the roof of leaves. Maybe I could found out in which direction we were about to go.

Filled with cheer and new hope, I climbed up in the nearest tree. Carefully yet in a neat way, I made my way through the roof and looked around. And far away in the east, I could see the low land we'd left before we entered the jungle. Now that I was sure of where I'd come from, I turned around and looked in the opposite direction. The sight before me made my newly born hope fade away.

Far away I could see a landscape of rocks and pillars, a region that almost had the same size as the jungle. I couldn't see any openings in the landscape so there was obviously no trail to follow. And what's even worse, there was no chance what so ever that me and Buck would came out from the jungle at the same spots. He cuold end up anywhere, and so could I.

"Well, rocks are better than jungle" I thought and climbed down. Then, I started to walk in the direction of the rough terrain. My only hope was that Buck would at least move at the same course as I was.

I shouted his name now and then but did never receive an answer in the quiet jungle.

It was getting dark when I finally reached the barren landscape. Filled with sadness, I realized that I wouldn't be able to found Buck tonight, and that I'd to fix my own camp for the night. The question was; where? The jungle could give me some safety, but the thought of once again sleep in a tree didn't make me thrilled.

But what was the opportunity? The rocks and pillars didn't seem to be safe enough, and who knew what kind of creatures lurked in there. For a second, I thought I saw a pair of evil eyes looking at me, but when I turned my face at its direction, it was gone. The trees seemed as a better choice by far.

I climbed up in a tree near the border of the forest and settle down at a branch in its crown. The branches were a bit bigger than the one I've spent the last night on, so hopefully this would be a night of more comfort.

I was lying on my back, staring at the foliage above me, but couldn't find piece enough to relax. I wondered where Buck could be, and how far he'd come, if he'd even got himself out the forest yet.

And I started to wonder how it would be tomorrow, what where the odds of founding him then? What were the odds of founding him at all? The whole situation felt rather bleak, and the thought of continue the journey home without him made me feel disheartened. Anger and sadness over myself and my lack of ability to concentrate started to fill me up, and I started to cry. And I realized that I missed him. I missed that crazy weasel so much, even more than I missed my family, which surprised me a bit.

I cried myself to sleep that night, and had a worried slumber.

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When I woke up, dawn had already passed and the day had begun. I stretched; the night had indeed been more comfortable than the night before, which my back was extremely thankful for.

I took a good look on the barren landscape that awaited me, and felt rather timid of what to do next. I didn't know what way Buck had planned to take me, if there was any way through this landscape or if it didn't matter how you walked. And of course, I didn't know where Buck was, and I couldn't see him from the tree I sat in.

There was only one thing I knew, and that was I couldn't stay up here. I was thirsty and since I hadn't eaten anything in almost one and a half day the hunger almost tore me apart.

Not far from my tree, I saw a red flower grew. I hoped that the nectar inside would be eatable, but I didn't have my guide around to ask.

Careful, I climbed down the tree and instead climbed up in the gigantic flower. The smell of the nectars sweetness was so heavy I had to put my hand around my nose, trying to ease the strong perfume. I had never searched for nectar before, there weren't that much flowers in the ice world and I was definitively not an expert in insects. So I tried to suck on the stamen and felt the sweat nectar come up to my mouth. It tasted like honey, but was maybe a little too sweet for my taste.

I couldn't possibly satisfy my hunger with this syrup so after a short while; I climbed down and looked at the barren terrain. Realizing there was nothing else to do; I sighed and started to walk over the stony landscape.

Once again, I tried to yell after Buck. My shout echoed between the rocks, so hopefully it sounded a lot higher today then yesterday. I hold my breath and pricked my ears and waited for an answer. But of course I didn't hear anything else than my own echo fading out.

One idea after the other passed through my head, but there was only one left to follow; start to cross the barren land on my own and yell after Buck continuously. And so I did. Hopefully we would run into each other sooner or later.

After a while, the bare landscape made me feel anxious at mind. My footsteps echoed a bit too loud between the rocks and pillars, and I couldn't get rid of the paranoid feeling of being followed. The idea I have had about yelling after Buck seemed now as a bad one. Instead, I pricked my ears for sound that wasn't made by me, and I was on the alert for anything unusual in my sight.

Carefully I moved forward. My hunger temporary stilled by the nectar had increased once again, making me hungry as a wolf, but I couldn't see anything eatable in this empty land. There were no plants or bushes growing, and as far as I'd seen; no animals lived here. But in spite of the fact of that, I couldn't shake of my paranoia and the feeling of something cruel watching my steps.

All of a sudden, I heard something. But it wasn't the sound of a possible follower; it was the sound of water purling. I looked around the corner of a pillar and saw a spring flowing out in the shadows between three larger rocks.

Joyfully, I let the water stilled my thirstiness. And what made me even happier, there was plenty of small fishes in the water swimming around, which I caught a few of and ate. They tasted wonderful.

When I was stuffed, I continued my walk, happy and satisfied, and the paranoia as good as gone. The only cloud on my heaven was that I still hadn't seen Buck.

The hours passed and I'd now come so far you couldn't see the jungle I'd left in the morning. The satisfying feeling over my filled stomach had left me earlier and the loss after Buck had once more made me disheartened.

I was about to try yell after him when I heard a sharp cracking of pebbles falling. I stopped. My heart started to beat faster and louder, as my fright rose inside me.

I turned my head in the direction of the sound but couldn't see anything. So I looked around but couldn't see any sign of whatever or whoever made the pebbles falling. I was about to start my walk again, when a lizard jumped out in front of me. I screamed in surprise as the lizard hissed at me, showing of his sharp teeth, and then stretched out a colorful collar around his neck.

The beat of my heart increased in speed but I wasn't sure if it was because of the fright, or kick of adrenalin. This lizard wasn't that much bigger than I was, and even if it could, and would if given the chance, eat me; it wasn't at all that threatening as the other two aggressive dinosaurs I'd met and survived earlier. In fact, I felt rather convinced that I could deal with this reptile by myself, either by scare it off or trick it away.

I didn't have anything to use in defense other than my own mind and body. Thank goodness, my low self-esteem didn't came up to the surface. I had only one thing in focus now, surviving.

With fixed eyes on the lizard, I took a defending stand. The lizard hissed again and then attacked me with opened mouth. I jumped aside, rolled around and fixed my eyes on the lizard again. The reptile didn't quite hang along, but when I tried a second time, it was prepared. It started to snap after me, fast and viciously, as I jumped away from its sharp teeth. For a second or two, I was happy that my knee didn't hurt anymore.

Round and round among the pillars we danced together; he snapping after me and me avoiding his attacks. And since I was at a disadvantage, I tried different types of strategies to change the odds. I tried to make the lizard bump into the walls, I tried to trick it down in the dark holes here and there, and I tried to grab its tail for swinging it away. But luck wasn't on my side. The lizard could foresee every move I made and didn't give me the chance to catch my breath.

After a while, I was started to feel tired. And I knew that if something didn't happen soon, I would be another meal to this cruel reptile. I refused to let that happen! And filled with anger, I punched the reptile in the roof of the mouth when he made an opened mouth attack against me.

Surprised, and temporary stunned by my move, the lizard staggered. I took that as a chance to escape to catch my breath, so as fast as I could I climbed up a wall, ran up to higher levels and tried recover my breath.

I was exhausted, my legs could barely bear me anymore, and it felt as my lungs were about to explode of the lack of oxygen. The hand I'd punched the lizard with started to ache, did it hurt this much just to punch anyone?

I heard a growl and saw the lizard climbing up after me. It'd recovered faster than I thought it would and was now angrier than ever. I yelled in a mix of fear and angry frustration over my decreased chance of winning.

With a supreme effort I lifted my hand and punched it once again, but the blow didn't affect the lizard as well as my first hit. The reptile tumbled down a bit, but stopped and then started to climb up to me once again, hissing in anger and triumph.

Suddenly, Buck came jumping and yelling from nowhere and caught the lizard in a firm grip. They tumbled down the rocks and landed on a cliff to a small rift. Buck let go off the lizard and the reptile hissed at him instead. And the insight of he now had another enemy to beat before he could eat it, made him even angrier. It roared with the collars vibrating, creating a terrifying look. But that didn't affect Buck. Instead, he pulled out a vine and created a lasso which he swung toward the lizard, catching it around its neck. The lizard tried to bite off the liana, but didn't manage before Buck swung him into the wall. While he was stunned, Buck tied him up and came up to me.

"This isn't gonna hold him when he wakes up, so let's run!" He yelled at me, so I climbed down and run after, still in shock to see him.

We stopped after a little while; we'd just left the barren land of stones and pillars. Buck turned towards me to say something but before he could, I'd caught him in my arms and hugged him. He stiffed in surprise but I hardly noticed it through my teary face.

"I thought…" I cried, "I thought I would never see you again"

Careful, he patted me on my back, and then he relaxed more and more till he was able to hug me back with a gentle arm. And there we stood, tightly wrapped around each other. I was so relieved that we'd found each other again I couldn't say anything for a couple of minutes. I cried out on Bucks neck, and he let me.

When I finally stopped crying, we separated, and he gentle brushed away the tears in my face.

"It sure was a while since I was hugged" he said with an awry smile.

It wasn't until then I realized what I was doing and I let go of my grip.

"Uh, sorry, I didn't mean to…" I started to say but he snapped me off.

"It's okay" he said with an undertone of something I couldn't render.

I looked him deep into his single blue eye and tried to find the answer. Instead, I started to think if this really were the same weasel that I'd met and come to known about two days ago. There was something about him that seemed to be different but I couldn't figure it out.

He blinked and whatever it was, it disappeared.

"Let's get moving, 'aright?" he said with a smile.

Then he turned and started to walk, my hand fell off his shoulder. I followed him, slightly confused over his behavior and the mix of unsorted feelings that ran through me.

We hadn't uttered a single word when we set camp at the foot of a large pillar that reached the roof of ice above. I wasn't until we'd finished the meal; I finally dare to say something.

"Thanks for saving me again"

Buck had been cleaning between his teeth with one of his claws, but when he heard what I said, he stopped and looked very satisfied.

"Well, I think ya could have managed that beast on your own if you'd been more experienced" he said with a smile towards me.

I smiled back; his compliment had once again raised my confidence level.

"I just wished I wasn't so clumsy" I said with a sigh.

He gave me a serious look.

"Haven't noticed that"

His solemn gaze made me turned away; it was a bit more than I could handle right now.

"How did you find me?" I asked him instead.

The stern look in his face faded.

"Well, it wasn't easy, that darn butterfly was pretty fast so I lost both sight and track just within half a minute. But I presumed ya would escape from it on your own and found your way to Sharpie Peaks, so hopefully, I would found ya there. I yelled after ya a couple of times but I guessed ya couldn't hear me, 'cause I never received an answer. It was only luck that made me see ya climbing up those pillars with that lizard chasing after ya. Ya must've really pissed it off, what did ya do?"

"I punched him in the mouth" I said shyly.

Buck looked slightly surprised, and then changed to a pleased look.

"Well, wasn't that what I thought?"

I smiled and turned my face to him, but as I did, he suddenly only sat a few inches from my face. It didn't make me squeak this time, maybe I was getting used to it.

"Are ya really that clumsy ya say that ya are all the time?" he said in disbelief.

"Well, I've never been told otherwise by anyone" I said, rather shamed about it.

Buck looked at me for a while, then sighed and took a seat beside me.

"And they think I'm crazy" he said with a voice filled with sympathy.

I didn't dare to look at him, his intimate presence made me slightly nervous and I couldn't understand why. Just as a try to distract myself I leaned back with my head and stared up at the roof. It was then I realized you couldn't see the stars from here below, or the shape of the moon. I sighed in sadness.

"What?" Buck asked me.

"I just realized you can't see the stars or the moon down here" I said.

Buck chuckled.

"If it stars ya wanna see, I can show them for ya"

I looked at him with doubt.

"How?"

"Follow me" he said and started to climb up the pillar.

I started to wonder what kind of crazy action he was up to this time, but didn't have anything else to do then follow him up. Always listen to Buck.

I reached him at a natural shelf higher up. He sat leaned back at the wall of the shelf and patted beside him, asking me to sit down. I obeyed, even if it once again made me nervous.

"Look over there" he said and pointed with a finger.

I followed it and looked at its pointing direction, and saw one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen in my life. Above the trees, small and shiny things flew in a wonderful dance of colors and light. There must've been around millions of tiny lights flying around in the air.

"Glowies" Buck explained for me.

Insects, I thought. I'd never seen its kind before, and for me it was a great substitute for a star-filled sky.

"Wow" I said enchanted.

Buck smiled at me, as we watched the magnificent play together.

End of chapter 5

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**Aaw, isn't that cute! Even if it wasn't his intentions, I think Buck can be a real romantic guy from time to time ^^**

**Hope you have liked it so far, we are halfway through the story now!**


	6. Chapter 6

The Butterfly Effect

A fan fiction by Tarashima

_Chapter __6 – A phenomenon that no on truly understands…_

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Somehow we must've fallen asleep on the shelf; I woke up when the light struck me through the eyelids. Carefully I opened my eyes and realized that I was lying beside Buck with my arm over his chest, as he slept like he'd at the first camp we made and was lightly snoring. My heart started to beat faster and so loud I thought it would awake him. Careful and soundless I lifted my arm of him and crawled to the edge of the ledge. There, I stood up and stretched my back, and with a yawn checking out the valley. In front of me, I could see a landscape of small trees and large bushes, creating a field of different kinds of greens. It was definitively not a rough terrain.

Suddenly, I heard a roar, but it wasn't as relentless as Rudy's were. And when I looked at my right side, I could see a sharp-toothed dinosaur in the distant, the biggest one I'd seen so far.

"Buck?" I asked to the weasel behind me.

"Hm?" he answered newly awakened.

"Do you think we'll meet that one today?"

Buck crawled to the edge, and stood with his left knee in front of him, resting his elbows on it and studied the dinosaur far away.

"Maybe, but I know that dinosaur, so if she would try something, I'll remind her of that"

It sounded mystical, but before I had the chance to ask him about it, he'd disappeared down the pillar. I followed and realized how much more flexible I'd become during these few days. Maybe Buck was right when he'd said that he hadn't noticed my clumsiness. The skeptical face he'd worn yesterday came back for my inner sight and I could hear his voice inside my head:

Are ya really that clumsy ya say that ya are all the time?

And with my lost phobia of water in mind, it all came clear to me. During these three days, I hadn't got one single teasing comment of my clumsiness; it was as it had disappeared as soon as no one mentioned it. And Buck had definitively not utter a single comment about it; he doubted it.

The only thing he'd said was that I wasn't that experienced, but that was only a truth that could be improved, nothing more.

Back on the ground, Buck had started to walk, and I followed him. But inside my chest, doubt had started to grow. Was it really worth all the effort to get myself back to my ordinary life?

*`~-.-~´*

We'd been walking a while when I asked Buck about the dinosaur we'd seen earlier, and how he could know her.

"She's the mother of three young rats fooling around here, practicing pranks whenever they can, but they usually more active closer to Lava Falls"

"Okay, but how do you know her?" I asked again, laying some extra tone at how.

He gave me a cunning smile.

"Let's just say we have something in common"

And that was the end of the conversation, and he turned forward continuing the walking. I tried to keep myself as close to him as were possible, just in case.

After awhile, I could suddenly hear a scary noise behind me. I tapped Buck on his shoulder.

"There's something really intimidating behind me, right?" I asked in a low voice.

He didn't say anything, and I couldn't read an answer from the expression in his face either. I turned around and saw three miniatures of the dinosaur we'd seen earlier.

"Watch out, I bet she's close" Buck whispered in my ear. Then, he stepped forward to one of the dino-miniatures and scratched it on its nose.

"Yeah, ya remember me, don't ya? I saved your floppy green mother from the flames for some time ago" he said

The kids giggled and it didn't seem like they wanted to eat any of us. I stared at him in confusion.

"What floppy green mother?"

"Oh, just a sloth I saved from the lava falls; he adopted them when they were eggs, believing they'd been abandoned. He became sort of their surrogate-mother for about a day"

My experience with sloths weren't sky high, but I knew that if they could avoid trouble of any kind, they would do anything to succeed with it.

"And how could a sloth find three dinosaur eggs?" I asked skeptically

""Well, I didn't quite get that part of the story, but I can assure ya that they did see him as their mother"

He gave me smile, like he'd just remembered something funny and I guessed that could also be quite a story to hear. But before I could ask, he'd fixed his eye on a spot behind me in the air above.

"Stay absolutely still, momma's coming" he said in a lowered voice.

I stiffed and stood perfectly still, as the dino-miniatures ran passed me, giggling and cooing. I hardly dared to breathe.

Suddenly, I felt shakings in the ground, the shakings of something big walking. The trembling stopped right behind me and from above I could feel the breath from a gigantic mouth, lowly roaring.

Buck pointed his knife at Momma.

"Hello there, momma, you remember me, don't ya?"

Something snarled above me, but I didn't dare to move yet.

"Let her go, she's with me"

A snort was heard, and then I could feel how something pushed me in the back, making me fell to the ground. Surprised I turned around and finally dared to take a watch at Momma as she turned around and walked away. When I saw how big she was, I was glad that I hadn't turned around before.

Buck came up and helped me up, smiling one of his big smiles. Finally I could breathe again.

"Well, how was that?" I asked

"Absolutely perfect" he said, patted me on the shoulder and then continued with the walking.

I shook myself a little, feeling rather proud of myself and how good I'd been dealing with the situation.

"So… what do you two have in common?" I asked him, now walking by his side.

He grinned.

"She's the only reptile in this valley that'd ever succeeded in defeating Rudy, except for me"

"Is he bigger than she is?"

"Oh, ya have no idea" Buck said, and I didn't dare to ask anymore questions about his foe.

The day went by without any more delays or distractive meetings with other dinosaurs, and at the end of the day, we could finally set camp up in a large tree, growing at the riverside of a stream. Buck climbed up and I followed, feeling more and more confident in myself and my own abilities. I'd never dreamed of being able to climb in trees or mounts before, but here I was, realizing once again that this wasn't hard either.

We reached a branch were large red fruits grew in the foliage. Buck sliced off one of them, cut it into halves and gave me on of them as he started to eat on the other one. Carefully I smelled on the juicy fruit, but couldn't smell anything else but soft sweetness so I took a suspicious chew on it. The sweet taste wasn't that different from the nectar I'd been drinking yesterday, but the too syrupy liquid was now exchanged into a more solid pulp that stilled both the hunger and the thirstiness.

When we were done eating I threw the empty fruit shell to the ground and sighed.

"That was truly delicious" I said totally satisfied.

"Never been eating fruits before?" Buck said smirking.

"Not these kinds of fruits, the ones above are pretty sour" I explained to him.

A bittersweet edge came across his smile, and he looked up at the roof above us.

"I don't remember what I used to eat up there"

His words made me realized I hadn't asked about his earlier life, even if I'd been wondering about it when we first met.

"How long have you really been down here?"

"So long it feels like up to me"

"Do you remember anything from your earlier life?"

He thought for a second or two before giving me an answer.

"Nope, just fragments that doesn't make any sense in my head"

I tried to imagine what it could be like, living without memories. Not being able to remember your childhood, nor if you had a family that missed you.

Family.

"Don't you remember if you had a family up there?"

"I've must have, but like I said; I only remember fragments and no faces or voices"

Filled with compassion I asked:

"Haven't you felt alone?"

The question seemed to make him astonished.

"Well, I…" he began but lost the thread.

He looked up into my eyes, and then I saw the shimmering of something different again. It made me slightly confused, and not only about his strange gaze, but also over the unknown feelings that rushed through me in that very moment.

I turned away my face. The moment felt rather awkward and all my strange emotions made me feeling very uneasy.

The silence lasted for a while, and then Buck broke it.

"Why don't ya tell me something?"

I looked at him. The different shimmering in his eye was gone again and now he was smiling, yet in a way that reminded me of my twin brothers when they wanted to apologize for something. I felt shy all of a sudden.

"Like what?"

"Anything, maybe about your life above" he said, trying to encourage me.

"I'm not sure if there's so much to tell"

"Maybe how ya ended up down here?"

I sighed; he didn't seem to give up the subject. Tentative, I started to tell him about my family and the life I used to live in the world of ice, about my clumsiness and about my wish of obtain recognition from the rest of my family, especially my dad. I told him about the fishing I was about to make when I tripped and fell through the ice.

Buck listened attentive at my story, and only interrupt to ask questions. I finished the story with the aggressive dinosaur I'd met at the cave, the one who'd almost eaten me.

"Lucky for me that you were around, otherwise I would've been in the stomach of a dino right now" I said thankfully. He smiled at me.

"No problem, mate"

The conversation paused.

"Thanks" I said after a while, and he turned towards me with an awry smile.

"Ya thank me a lot, what is it for this time?"

"For… everything, I've had the adventure of my life and become a whole other person thanks to you"

"I hope that's a good thing"

"It is"

I was beginning to feel the awkwardness get back to us, so I leaned back down to the ground and stared up at the foliage. Fragments of the last few days' events passed in my mind and I realized that I'd begin to enjoy this life, even if it contained mortal peril. More than ever, I felt strongly in my heart that I didn't really want to go home. As soon as I would be back, I knew I would transform into my old clumsy self again, and that wasn't a heartening thought.

I had to ask, even if I was afraid of the answer.

"When do we arrive?"

I didn't receive an answer so I lifted myself with up to half sitting position on my elbows, and looked after Buck. He had moved to a standing position at the edge of the branch, with his knife in a firm grip leaning on the shoulder and stared out in the silence.

I rose on to my feet and walked on to him, and was about to repeat my question when he answered.

"You'll be home tomorrow"

His words sank deep into me; it was definitively not the answer I'd wanted. I didn't want to lose the freedom I'd tasted down here, and I didn't want to return to the stingy commentaries about me and my features. But most of all, I didn't want to lose Buck.

The thought of never meeting him again hurt me more than any other. I didn't want to leave him alone here; I didn't want to be alone again. Of course I would have my family, but how often wasn't I feeling alone amongst them?

I'd never felt alone with Buck.

A new kind of panic started to rise within me. And before I could control myself, I had thrown my arms round him in a tight embrace. He didn't stiff this time, but didn't make an effort of embracing me back.

"I…I will miss you" I said, feeling tears pushing from behind my eyelids, but I blinked them away.

Buck didn't answer. Instead, he gently released my grip around him, looked me into the eyes with his own filled with distress. Then, he let go of his grip around my hands and walked away.

"I'm sorry…" was all he said, before climbing down the tree and walking away, leaving me alone.

I looked after him with teary eyes. I was filled with a suffering sadness I'd never felt before but now knew what it was.

I had for the first time in my life fallen in love. I was deeply in love with this weasel, which I would leave tomorrow, never to meet again.

I lifted my hands to my eyes and fell down on the branch, silently crying out my agony. In that moment, I was sure that I would never feel happy again.

End of chapter 6

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**Finally! She would definitely had fallen for him much earlier, but I guess since she'd never experienced love before, her realization was a bit slow. **

**Sorry for the confusing sadness, but good stories contain some of it, I think.**

**Be ready for next chapter soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

The Butterfly Effect

A fan fiction by Tarashima

_Chapter 7__ – When the silky cocoon is created around the maggot…_

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I couldn't fall asleep that night. Instead, I sat in the shrubbery, in a state of total melancholy and apathy at the prospect of tomorrow. My tears had stopped their flow in the middle in the night, when I'd desperately tried to come up with other solutions.

Ask him if he wanted to follow me up to the surface? Hardly, he seemed to enjoy his life down here a bit too much to let it go. And besides, did he even like me that much?

Stay down here with him? Well, that could be an idea, but once again; did he like me as much as I wanted him to do?

Buck didn't return whole night; it was not until dawn that I saw him sitting on a rock below the tree. I wondered how long he'd been sitting there, or if he have had any sleep at all, but I didn't dare to move or make a sound. Instead, I lay on the branch watching him. Maybe it was just the love inside me speaking, but I couldn't help but think he was the most handsome weasel I'd ever known. His pleasant brown fur, his single blue eye, the patch that added some extra manliness to his features, I even loved the craziness he'd been showing me now and then.

A dreamy picture of us, walking hand in hand in the sunset, passed in front of my eyes, but I waved it away. Dreaming only hurt; I could still handle the reality without collapse. But I knew that it too would become much worse soon.

When dawn had passed and the morning had broken, I couldn't stave it anymore. With a deep breath, I tried to swallow the sadness and crack through my shell of apathy. Cloudy, I climbed down the tree to Buck, which hadn't been moving the whole time.

He looked up to me and gave me a smile.

"Finally awake?" he said, more as a statement then an actual question.

I tried to smile back, but the muscles didn't quite understand my signals, so I guess it all ended up in an ugly grimace instead. He rose himself, swung a little with the arms and then grabbed his knife.

"Okay, let's go then, shall we?" he said and started to walk.

I followed him, totally perplexed. He seemed a bit too cheery today, instead of the sad face I'd seen yesterday. Was he happy or depressed about me leaving?

My self-esteem wanted me to think the first thing, I hadn't been anything else but trouble since I'd got down here. But why had he been so blue yesterday's night? What had he meant by his 'I'm sorry'? One question after the other popped up inside my head, but I didn't have the courage or strength to ask any of them.

It was specifically one question I wanted an answer to, the only one my heart desired to utter yet my self-confident failed to ask:

Do you like me?

We'd been walking for a while when Buck suddenly stopped. Still deep inside my own thoughts, I bumped straight in to his back. He held out his free hand in front of me to stop me from walking any further. Then he sniffed in the air.

"Can ya smell that?" he asked me.

I sniffed, and yes I could smell that different scent, and even recognize it, yet I couldn't quite place it. It wasn't until we both heard the voices of two people calling my name I realized it was my dad Ender and my aunt Luna moving toward us.

"Family members?" Buck asked.

"Yes, it's my father and aunt, but what are they doing here?"

He looked at me in surprise.

"Searching for ya maybe?"

I rolled my eyes and answered him slightly annoyed.

"Yes, I can get that too, but dad doesn't usually seek after me, he only sends my big sister Rosie out to search for me"

"Ya disappear that often?" he said with a teasing smile.

I gave him a irriteated glance but didn't get the time to respond, before both Ender and Luna showed up between some bushes.

"Mirja!" my father yelled, still unaware of me standing only a few yards from them.

I stepped forward, placing myself in front of Buck.

"Hi dad"

Both Ender and Luna discovered me at the same time, and their faces turned from concern to relief.

"Mirja? Is it really you?" Luna asked in a chocked way.

"Hi auntie"

Ender and Luna laughed and ran towards me, both grabbing me in a firm grip, hugging me without noticing Buck. Luna kissed me on both cheeks; she had teary eyes of affection.

"I've been worried sick for you" she said softly.

"You did really put yourself in trouble this time, we'd been looking for you for about three days" Dad said, his smiling face had turned into a stern look.

"I'm sorry" I said, and felt that I really meant it.

Then I turned to Buck.

"Buck, this is my aunt Luna and my dad Ender" I said, presenting each of them for my guide. Then, I presented Buck for them.

"And this is Buck; he's been helping me and showing me the way"

Ender got a strange look in his face.

"What was his name you said?"

Buck took a step forward and made a slightly bow, as a try to be polite. It didn't suite him at all, maybe because it was obviously something he wasn't used to do.

"The name's Buck, short for Buckminster" he said.

My dad sniffed crossly.

"Yes, I know you, we've met before"

Both I and Buck looked rather confused and surprised.

"Have we?" Buck said

"Have you?" I said, starting to feel uneasy over the expression in my dad's face.

"Luna, don't you recognize him?"

We both turned to Luna, which had an upset appearance.

"Sure I do, even if it was a while ago. He had two eyes and longer hair then"

I turned to Buck.

"Longer hair?"

He shrugged his shoulders as in 'don't know what they talking about'.

"Well, it seems that your friend here have forgot it" Ender said and he was getting infuriated.

He took forward to Buck and gave him a threatening look, which I didn't like. Then he turned to me.

"But guess what? We haven't forgotten and I think you deserve to hear the full story, so I'm going to tell it"

He cleared his throat like he was a bout to say something important that would change us all for the rest of our life. I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear this story, but I couldn't go up against my father.

"Once upon a time, when your mother still lived and we didn't have our home in our present forest, we lived far away beneath a mountain called "Bear Peek", together with lots of other weasels, forming ourselves a pack. There, a furiously saber-toothed bear lived, but we'd all learned how to avoid that creature, so none was ever killed. Until one day, and that was because of a careless young man, who had turned his attention at something else, letting his too young mate and his baby boy be killed by this wrathfully monster. And he didn't do anything to save them, instead he stood there as a statue, unable to move. When the bear finally left, leaving him to live, he came down to the village, and wanted the rest of us to show him compassion for the loss of his family. We'd never seen anything like it before! And we all felt so ashamed over this… coward that we couldn't stand to see him. He was banished, the large weasel pack was split and we moved to our present home."

Ender gave Buck a condescending look and then turned to my chocked face.

"Can you guess who the young man was?"

I couldn't believe any of it! I turned to Buck who looked at me with an empty look.

"Please tell me it's not true!" I said desperately.

He sighed and turned away.

"I don't remember, the only thing I remember is some sort of pain and shame, so I guess it's true. But I can't even remember how they looked like"

I was chocked. During our four days together, I had never ever seen that side of him. He'd always without hesitate risked his life and limb just to save me. But I guess that was just a reaction because of his past, a twist in his brain that didn't allow him to do anything else.

I didn't know what to feel. Was I angry on him? Hardly, I'd been acting cowardly myself during my years, been into lots of situation were I was too afraid to move, even if I'd never been in an extreme one as the newly told.

Did I still love him? I looked at him, studying his features and with the story of his past in my mind. My heart beat a little harder and faster, my stomach was filled to its limits with happy clouds and inside my head a blissful fog packed itself. Yes, I still loved him. Once-a-coward or not, he'd changed, and no matter what he'd been like in his past, he was now a brave good-hearted person, and one heck of a daredevil. And it was after all this present weasel I'd fallen for.

"Well, you've had my daughter in your insecure hands long enough, it's a wonder you're both still alive" Ender said, awakening me from my thoughts. Then he grabbed hold into my arm and started to walk away.

"We can find the rest of the way home from here" Luna said, looking angry at Buck.

I pulled myself out of my father's grip. He looked surprised at me.

"You can't stop me from saying goodbye" I said defiantly. Dad was in chock, I'd never disobey him before.

I walked back to Buck; his face was filled with sorrow. I opened my mouth to speak but he raised his hand and interposed.

"I know that ya know that I've changed down here, but trust me, there are a lot of reasons behind my lost sanity, and my past is one of them"

"I don't care; I can understand both of you. Well, maybe you better than my dad" I said in a soft voice.

He smiled thankfully, and then cleared his throat.

"Um… thanks" he said.

I looked rather confused. I'd a lot of reasons to thank him; he didn't have a single one to thank me for. Or did he?

"What do you have to thank me for?"

"For making me remember how to think normal again, I was about to say it to ya yesterday, but didn't know how, that's why I apologized, I guess"

I laughed.

"I almost thought you didn't have the capacity to think normal"

"Well, if ya woke up one morning newly married to a pineapple, ya can start to wonder"

We both laughed. Then, almost as an instinctive action that didn't require any mental activity in my brain; I leaned forward and pressed my lips onto his. The surprise over my act made him temporary stunned, yet he soon collected his wits and kissed me back. My body started to burn and it almost felt as my brain melted into liquid that flowed from my ears down my cheeks, because I could no longer think rationally. I couldn't think at all. It felt almost like a dream.

Sadly for us, this was the reality, and we had to pull apart too soon. I could feel my angry father's stare and the chock of my aunt, but I didn't care about them. I didn't want to care about them yet, I'd one last thing to say.

Buck had a surprised expression in his face but didn't say anything.

"Thanks for everything you've learned me" I said, and felt the tears start flowing from my eyes.

"Like what?"

"For teaching me to believe in myself and…" I bit my under lip, unsure of what more I could say, but I'd already revealed myself, so I continued after taking a deep breath. "…and how to love someone"

He sighed, but I couldn't tell if it was over my revelation or the fact that I soon would be gone. Gentle he stroked his hand on my cheek.

"Ya should go before your father kills us both" he said in a lowered voice, throwing a glance over my shoulder at my father's position.

"I'll never forget you" I said

A hasty firm hug, then it was over, I had to leave him.

Tears were flowing down my cheeks, and it almost felt as a hammer were crushing my heart into small pieces in my chest.

Ender exploded in anger when I came up to them.

"Have you fallen in love with THAT one?" he yelled at me. "What are you thinking?"

He continued his yelling at me, but I didn't listen. My ears seemed to have lost their function when Buck and I had separated. I turned around to watch him one last time, but he was already gone. Anxiety filled my whole body and mind, as we left the underworld of reptiles and returned to the ice age above.

End of chapter 7

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**Oh dear, I had to rewrite most of this chapter because it was getting way too much out of character (though I still think it does, but the result is slightly better)**

**And about Buck's horrifying past; sorry for making him an ex-coward but I wanted a traumatic reason for his insanity and will to save others without blinking. Perhaps I overdued it, I'm not sure.**

**PS: I didn't actually want to add a kiss there at the end, but my fingers didn't want to type anything else so... Obey the fingers!**

**Review plz!**


	8. Chapter 8

The Butterfly Effect

A fan fiction by Tarashima

_Chapter __8 – And once the protecting shell is cracking up…_

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My dad's anger over my love for Buck didn't know anything about limits. He barely talked to me or anyone at home, and when he did, it was just bitterly commentaries of my none-to-speak-of reasoning power, or the repeat of Buck's horrifying past. Maybe he tried to turn me against my lover, but it didn't have anything but the opposite effect. Nothing my father said or did could make it any worse, I'd lost the only person that I'd ever loved and who'd cared for me the most. And I knew I would never found anyone better in the ice age world.

Everyone wondered what I'd gone through in the underworld but I couldn't tell them the story. It hurt too much to think off my adventure below, it hurt too much to think off Buck. I cried every day, and didn't want to leave the tree. I hardly slept at night, and when I did, I was back in the dino world, together with Buck. Those nights were the worst.

Luna watched over me this time, filled with compassion and worries, but did never say anything.

After a month or two, I wasn't quite sure since I didn't care about time any longer; I'd reached a state of apathy I'd never felt before, a condition in which I didn't care and couldn't think. Everything felt as tragic statements that I didn't react on anymore; I'd become a cynic. And it felt a lot easier that way; the cynic reality was something I could handle without too much trouble.

Nothing could affect me any longer, I'd lost all emotions. So one night I told my family about my adventures in the world below. Though, I didn't say a thing about my own thoughts and feelings during the story, there was still a small risk the cynic would leave me and I didn't want to risk that.

Rock and Roll were very impressed over Buck, and almost flipped out in excitement when I told the story how he'd lost his eye to the most fearsome creature below; Rudy.

When I was finished, I could feel a slight of emptiness inside, like there's was nothing left of me now that I'd told my family the whole story.

"I want to be like Buck when I grew older" Roll said.

"No, you can't be, 'cause I'm gonna be like Buck" Rock said in a teasing way, and then their usual fighting started again.

I watched their struggling with a blank expression.

"Did he really fight a giant dinosaur?" Maggie asked surprised. I could hear a snort from Ender, as he left us and walked back to the tree. I'd known he wouldn't believe my story, but I didn't care about him.

"And did he really have a tooth from it?" Mimi asked, more in a fascinated way.

"I just told you that"

"Yeah, but… It's kind of hard to believe" Maggie said skeptically.

"Then you don't have to" I snapped shortly.

"Alright, alright, whatever you say, sore head" Maggie said, slightly irritated. "Come on, Mimi, let's go to bed"

Mimi sighed in disappointment and then the sisters walked back to the tree. Luna followed them, looking back at me with sympathy. I looked after them totally vacant.

"Was he handsome?" I suddenly heard Rosie ask me.

I turned to her, still feeling empty.

"Who?" I asked, even if I knew perfectible well who she was speaking of.

"Well, this Buck of course! Was he handsome? Luna told me you fell for him"

I twitched. I hadn't felt any emotions the last week, and now, I felt almost… angry. What made Luna think she had the right to tell Rosie about Buck?

"Well, was he?" she asked again.

"It's none of your business anyway, so shut up"

"Okay, sorry" she said, rather irritated. "I was only curious, and even if I can understand your feelings right now…"

I exploded and abruptly interrupted her.

"What do you now about my feelings? Nothing! You've always been the target of unhappy love, so you can't possible understand what I'm feeling right now!"

She gave me surprised look; I wasn't usually the one that became angry. But I wasn't my old self anymore; I hadn't been my old self for weeks.

"How do you think it feels like when everyone around you says that you're ugly? Says that you're nothing but clumsy and in the way? Says that you look so different that you must been adopted? How do you think it feels like to never felt that anyone care for you and then suddenly found someone that actually do?"

My anger had now finished its explosion. Now, I felt empty once again. I turned my face from Rosie and stared at absolutely nothing.

"He… cared a lot about me, even from the beginning, and he didn't even have to. He chose to care and he helped me through so many things I…"

The cynic inside started to leave, I could feel it, and I tried to no avail hold it back.

"I couldn't help it; I fell for him because he was the most good-hearted and most delighted weasel that I've ever met"

No, I couldn't help that I'd fallen for Buck. And now, I couldn't help but cry when my cynic left for real and the sadness inside me rose to the surface once again. It felt as my already broken heart was now burning to ashes.

Rosie didn't say anything. Instead, she got up and sat down next to me, wrapping her arms around me in a firm and comforting hug.

"I miss him so much…" I said in a whisper through my tears.

"I know sweetie, I know" Rosie said gently. "If you're lucky, you'll find someone else special later in your life"

I didn't answer her, even if I knew it was a lie.

*~-.-~*

It had almost passed two weeks since I told my family about my adventures below, when I one early morning woke up with a horrifying premonition. I couldn't quite figure out what was wrong, but I knew Buck was in grave danger and that he needed me right now!

Carefully yet hasty, I sneaked out from the family tree and run silently over the frosty ground. I didn't even think about in what direction I was running through the forest. All I knew that I looked for something. And soon I realized what it was; it was the hole I'd fallen through for so long time ago. The way we'd passed through during my return home had fallen through my memory, maybe because of the pain I was feeling then?

I was about to jump down through the hole when I heard a voice behind me.

"And where do you think you're going?"

It was Luna; she'd been following me from the tree. I felt my gruesome worry grew inside, and knew I didn't have much time left. I took a deep breath and hoped that Luna would understand me.

"I've got to go back"

"But why do you have to go? I know that you love him but you also know about his past."

"Yes, I know the whole story, but trust me, he has changed a lot since then. During our four days together, I never got the feeling of unsafely or that I couldn't trust him. He cared for me and taught me how to be confident in myself. He even taught me how to be in love. And now, he needs me."

"But does he love you as you love him?"

I wasn't sure of the answer to that question but I didn't have the time to doubt.

"Yes" I answered confidentially, hoping that it would be the truth.

Luna sighed; she had tears in her eyes.

"And there is no way that you will make up your mind?"

"No"

I took a few steps forward onto her and looked her straight in her eyes.

"I love him truly and deeply, and I want to get back in a world where I can be happy"

She sighed again.

"You really remind me of your mother, she was also very impulsive and stubborn. I just hope you'll be happier than she was"

I had to make out a short laugh about this unexpected understanding, and I hugged her as my happiness inside ran over.

"I will come back and visit you all, I promise" I said in a whisper, feeling my eyes getting wet.

"Well, if you care about my health, you better do" she said through the tears.

She kissed my both cheeks. Then we separated, and I jumped through the hole, leaving the ice age world forever.

End of chapter 8

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**Mohaha, what a total meanibutt I am, leaving you all with a terrible cliffhanger and a whole chapter without Buck!**

**Sorry for the long waiting, have been busy with work whole week ^^;;;;;**

**Next chapter is the last, I hope you all have enjoyed the story as much as I had writing it ^_^**

**Review if you haven't**


	9. Chapter 9

The Butterfly Effect

A fan fiction by Tarashima

_Chapter 9__ – …The delightful butterfly inside will come out_

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As soon as I'd landed, I started to run. I didn't quite remember which way I'd walked when I first fell down in the enormous cave, and the darkness around were even deeper this time, but I let my senses lead me instead of my thinking. And soon, I reached the opening and saw the world of green and dinosaurs. It had not changed a bit since my last visit. The only change now, was a feeling of being home in my chest.

But I didn't have the time to enjoy it, I had to found Buck, and that quickly than ever.

I pricked my ears to snap up every little noise around me. Even if it was early dawn and still very dark, the valley was full of sounds. And soon, I could snatch up the roar I'd been listening after; the growl of Rudy. It came from Lava Falls, a place I didn't visit during my last trip, but knew perfectible well the location of. And I knew that was the place where I would find Buck.

I jumped of the cliff and landed elegant in a tree. I climbed down and started to run as fast as I could, but it didn't go as fast as I wanted. Panic started to rise inside me, what if I didn't get there in time?

Suddenly, I ran passed something familiar. I stopped and saw the same pterodactyl that had tried to eat me and Buck at the rift. It was sleeping on a small shelf in the mount wall. And I'd got an idea so crazy it might be working.

Carefully, I grabbed a liana from a tree nearby, and sneaked up to behind the flying reptile. And then, I jumped onto its back, making it awakening in a rather harsh way, and when it shrieked in surprise, I threw the liana over its beak and pulled the edges of it. I now had the reptile in a firm hold and even though it reacted mostly in panic; it obeyed my commands through the liana. The new experience made adrenalin flow through my body, wild and rashly like the cataracts of water in the river during spring time. I focused all my senses and forced the reptile to fly me towards Lava Falls, where the roar of Rudy had become louder and more furious.

As we came closer the lava streams and the barren land of solidified magma, I finally saw the gigantic white dinosaur that must've been Rudy. And the sight of this horrifying dinosaur made me almost fell off the pterodactyl in valid terror; this reptile truly was way bigger and meaner than the T. Rex Mother we'd met the day before my leaving. The enormous, croc-like mouth didn't express anything but absolute blood thirst and the white color on his skin made an over natural appearance. Three lines of gap-spikes run on the back and along the lengthy tail, completing the ghastly picture. And when I came closer, I could see the scar from his lost tooth.

Rudy was furiously hunting something that jumped over the trees growing along-side the magma. It was Buck! I urged the reptile beneath me to fly faster; Rudy was closing in with every second that passed by.

Meanwhile, Buck had gone out of trees and landed on solid ground, trying to run away. But Rudy was way faster and was just about to snap his gigantic mouth over the crazed weasel when I passed through them and caught his arm in a firm grip. Just behind me, Rudy shut his mouth with a loudly snap, clapping his big teeth together.

Taken by surprise, Buck turned his head up at me.

"Mirja?"

"Hello, Buck" I said and couldn't help but smile, when the happiness over finally meet him once again ran over. It also made me lost my concentration for a few seconds, making us crash into a tree. All three of us landed clumsy on the ground, and as soon as the pterodactyl realized he was free, he took off.

I lifted my head and was met by a shocked and intensive blue eye.

"Ya came back?" Buck asked.

"You hadn't been polite enough to introduce me to Rudy" I said teasingly.

He made out a short laugh. Then we heard and felt the heavy stride of the white dinosaur behind, and the dead serious feeling of survival came back to both of us.

We rose onto our feet and started to run towards the trees.

"Follow me!" Buck yelled at me and grabbed a liana in a jump, swinging forward through the vegetation, yelling like crazy. I didn't have the time to doubt my skills, so I grabbed a liana and soon, I too was swinging from the perilous dinosaur behind us. This headlong flight made us move a lot faster, but for me it wasn't fast enough; Rudy was just behind us.

A mix of panic and excitement ran through my body, as I desperate tried to figure out a better way of avoiding devouring. Then I got an idea, and when I grabbed hold into the next liana, I swung myself at the side, rounding the beast and landed behind his gigantic feet. And as I'd thought, Rudy didn't quite hang along. His enormous body could hardly move as elegant as I could, when it came to matter of small areas instead of running laps.

He tried to step around and follow my moves, but he didn't have the benefits of a weasel; quick, small and twisting ability. And so I ran and jumped around under his body, and could easily avoid his jaws and stamping feet.

Another crazy idea took form inside my head. Hastily I filled my hand with sand from the ground and clenched it into a fist, keeping the sand in safety inside. Then I started to climb up on Rudy's leg and onto his back with my free hand, a move he didn't quite appreciate.

With frustrating growls he tried to reach me with his claws but luckily, I was a little too fast for him. When I reached the head, I set course on of the giant eyes. It stared at me in evil shades of red and yellow and the fear inside me made me almost lose my grip. Rudy was just about to scratch me down with his claws when I threw the sand into his eye.

Enraged in pain, he growled and swung his head with great force, making me lose my grip and fell to the ground, landing on my back. The brutal landing made me both lose my breath and ability to move.

As I lied on the ground, struggling to get my breath back, I saw Rudy banging his head into the ground, trying to get rid of the gravel inside his eye. With a twitchy move with his head, he was about to bashed it onto me where I was lying. I tried to scream in panic but didn't have enough air to fill my lungs. Suddenly Buck came jumping from nowhere, grabbed me in his arms and saved me just inches from being crushed under the heavy head.

We rolled away to safety, and stopped beneath a large tree. I had still problems with the breathing and capacity of moving, but thanks to my bizarre action, Rudy was now distracted.

"That was the craziest thing I'd ever seen!" Buck said fascinated.

"I-I learned it fro-om the be-est" I said, gasping after air.

He smiled appreciated, then looked back at Rudy.

"Wait here!" he said to me and I couldn't do anything else but obey.

Buck collected a long and solid creeper, which he careless rolled up, and then ran back to Rudy, who now had recovered his eye and were angrier than before. Buck made a lasso and swung it tightly around a huge rock, and then climbed up on Rudy's leg and back up to the head. There, he threw the rest of the creeper around the mouth of the reptile and swung himself off holding the vine, flew two round around the chaps and then landed elegant on the ground. He started to run off.

Rudy was about to follow, but the tightened vine hold him trapped in a firm ensnare and he fell to ground.

Buck ran back to me.

"Are ya okay?" he asked

I nodded, even if my breath weren't normal yet and the strain of catching it had left me panting and exhausted. I think Buck could see it; because he lifted me onto his back.

"We have to run, before he breaks free" he said with a slight nod at Rudy's direction.

Then he started to run away from Lava Falls, into safety in the green forest lands on higher level.

And I was back at our very first meeting, which also had ended in him carrying me on his back. I didn't know a thing about him then, I hadn't even been awake. Now, things had changed a lot.

My heart started to rush when we passed between the trees, as a result of my physical effort, the home-coming feeling and loving emotions. Everything felt a bit bizarre, and I got the impulse to laugh at the whole situation. But I still had some sense left in my head, and I stopped the giggle from popping out my mouth. It was still too dangerous to relax totally, and not only because we nevertheless were too close to Rudy.

Finally we'd reach a location where Buck thought was enough range to the white reptile. The dawn had passed and the morning sun above shone through the roof of ice over us. Buck dropped me gentle on the ground, then he threw himself on his back, panting exhausted as his chest moved heavily up and down.

I realized that I stared at him, but I didn't turn my face away. Instead, I watched him carefully with shimmering eyes as he recovered his breath. When he'd done that, he rose to sitting position, looking at me with a tired yet joyful eye.

"Finally we can talk" he said.

"Yeah" I said, started to feel slightly nervous. I didn't quite planned to get in to this situation, even if I wasn't about to return to the ice world.

"Well, I didn't expect ya to come back, but I can't say that I don't appreciated it"

"Because I saved you?"

"Not only because of that, silly"

My heart started to run faster, and I smiled at him. He smiled back, and then he threw a glance at the ground before looking curious at me.

"Can I ask ya why?"

"You know why, you must know"

"I want to hear it"

I tried to gather strength to say what my heart wanted him to hear, it felt hard to declare all of a sudden. It didn't matter if I'd already revealed myself by kissing him goodbye for an eternity ago. I took a deep breath and let the words slip out of my mouth before I could think anymore about it.

"I love you"

He let the words sink in before he answered me with a crooked smile.

"You're aware of that ya shouldn't?"

I smiled at him.

"Why not?"

"C'mon, a lunatic like me, risking life and limb as a daily routine, beside my rivalry with Rudy, does that sound normal to ya?"

"Maybe not, but I can't help it"

"Ya know about my horrifying past, which I myself have almost totally forgotten. Doesn't that concern ya?"

"I know that you've changed so I'm not worried"

"And hey, I must be much older than ya, don't ya worry about that either?"

"No, you only feel more experienced than me, so I don't care"

"And ya don't care about the mortal peril down here?"

"No"

He sighed.

"You're pretty stubborn, ya know that?"

"Yes, I've inherited it from my mother"

I moved a little closer, I had to ask him now.

"But do you like me?"

He turned to me and looked me straight in my eyes.

"No"

My heart almost shattered, but then he continued, with a heartening smile on his lips.

"I love ya, and that's a lot more different then just 'liking' ya"

I swallowed hard as my heart turned head over heels and my brain started to do sit-ups.

"You really do?"

He looked at me with a teasingly smile.

"Well, it wouldn't be polite of me not to love ya" he said humorously, referring to our very first conversation.

I laughed, and then I fell upon him and kissed him. He fell on his back, surprised but in enough control to kiss me back, holding me in his arms.

The happiness inside me exploded and for a second or two, I felt as if I was dead. But the warmth heat from Bucks lips and body convinced me that this was the reality, and I was alive. I doubted that Rosie had ever felt this way with any weasel boy above, or else she wouldn't have that many ex's.

Buck rolled me over, so he was lying on top of me instead of the reverse. His finger played with my long, dark hair as it was draped over my shoulders. I scratched him playfully behind his left ear, which made him broke away.

"Stop that, it tickles!" he said smiling.

His lonely blue eye shimmered in pure gladness and pleasure. My hand went from scratching his ear to gently massage it.

Then we embraced in another kiss, a more intense and passionate one. I felt tears of happiness flow from my eyes, and I knew that in this very moment they weren't two happier mammals than we in the underworld or in the world of ice above.

I'd always felt as an ugly caterpillar, until Buck cracked my cocoon and revealed the beautiful butterfly inside. And I know that my life wouldn't have ended up like this, if I hadn't fallen through the ice that day. My moments of temporary long-gone clumsiness became the lovely and pleasant adventure of my life.

The End

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**Sniff, I love happy endings...**

**Hope you had fun reading, and I hope my english was good enough to understand ^^**

**PS: Please tell me what you thought of it, but no flamings thnx!**

**Constructice critic on my grammar is always welcome ^^  
**

**Goodbye!**


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